Hello one and all. I love this website because everyone is so helpful.

Anyway, we are in the planning stages for a trip to Italy in July. We will be there for three weeks, and would love the advice of fellow travelers about where the best places to go are. We have only been to Rome before, so we would love to see other places, cities or countryside. There will be three in our traveling party, all females, ages 16, 23, & 44. All suggestions are welcome. We love art, culture, food, and wine.

Hi Tasha, what parts of Italy interest you? Venice of course is so beautiful. As is Florence. But Florence can get very hot and humid in July. Do you have any interest in say the Amalfi Coast, Capri etc. Or in the eastcoast of Italy, along the Adriatic. Or the Dolomites?

Art and culture sounds like perhaps Venice and Florence. Food and wine IMHO is fantastic in all off Italy.

There is also the lake region in northern Italy. And the Piedmont area.

Have you looked at any travel books etc. to see what would appeal to all of you? If you are talking about July 2005 you need to start making some decisions etc asap so that you can get the reservations that you want. July is a heavy travel month in Italy.

Well, Venice is so obvious...

After that, I would stay as far north (and at higher elevations) as much as possible, for weather reasons.

Beyond that, you need books. Big books, big picture-filled books. Read 'em like a novel, from cover to cover. That's how their editors intended that you use them.

There is so much to like about northern Italy, from Verona, Trento, the Dolomites, Lake Garda/Sirmione and Bassano del Grappa, in the northeast... to Bergamo, Lakes Como and Stresa in/near Lombardy to the Piemonte in the northwest... You need to find what speaks to you.

Best wishes,

Rex

I agree with Rex that what you should do is get some books with lots of photos and see which places "call to you". There are many good sites on the internet that will give you photos to browse also. For starters I'll offer up my own photos which are at: www.pbase.com/annforcier. But there are lots of other sites and if you google "photos of Italy" you'll get plenty.

With three weeks, in July, having already been to Rome - then I would suggest Venice, Florence, the lakes region, and the cinque terra. Will you have a car or be traveling by train? I would probabaly do 4 days in Venice, then 4 days in Florence, 4 in Siena (with day trips to other Tuscan towns), 3 Lake Como, and 2-3 Cinque Terra. That would still leave several more days but I would stay in the basic area bordered by those places (in other words, I wouldn't go down to Rome or south).

We did north italy last july and found some very useful info about summer travelling.
1.the italians head for the coast ,lakes and mountains and leave the big sites to the tourists
2.you can spend too much time getting to places and not taking enough in on your way or when you get there because every thing is rushed
3.It can get very hot ,but i love that being from australia so each to thier own
So where to go for 3 weeks .
The best way is to break it into 3 zones for a week each
Zone 1
It has to be venice including the veneto region .Towns such as verona ,sirmione on lake garda,Asolo ,Bassano dee grappa
Zone 2
Tuscany, Base yourself in a town ,hire a villa in the chanti region and travel by car to the amazing hill towns and do day trips to florence ,siena ,volterra ,pisa etc and maybe the cinqe terra?
Zone 3
Lakes district ,Como,Maggorie,lugano
much cooler and you can acces the alps or even the dolomites by car or train.como is my pick a lovely town called Varenna on the east shore.
or Zone 4 could replace zone3
Amalfi/Sorrento/capri/pompei on the coast but plenty to do for a week .Sorrento being a good base.
Best to travel by train from up north unless you love hair raising driving adventures that can stress to the max .The local trains are also very easy to use.
good luck and enjoy.

I would know about the weather in specific towns I was considering (Rome in June two years ago was 90+ to 95 degree afternoon highs. I'm in Georgia but ROme was hot.)

Renting an aprtment or even a "villa" would be one option.

There is a coffee table book "101 Beautiful Small Towns in Italy" published by Rizzoli (appx $50 Amazon)
(this is in addition to the usual travel books).

Maybe a side trip into Switzerland?

Hi Tasha --

How exciting that you get to go for 3 weeks. =) Since you are lovers of culture, food, art and wine, Tuscany and Venice would be just right. Perhaps fly into Florence, stay for 4 nights, and then move onto Tuscany. You could easily spend a week in the hilltowns exploring with a rental car and basing yourself from one or two locations. Then, finish up with a nice long stay in Venice.

Also, are you interested in returning to Rome?

Good luck! -- h.

2 nights in Bellagio on lake Como
3 nights in the Dolomites
4 nights Venice
3 nights Florence
rent a car and drive around Tuscany for a week www.tuscany.net
2 nights Cinque Terre